Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
Wonderful debut novel about a young man at a crossroads. It’s 2016 and he’s moved back to his native Kentucky but has a love hate relationship with the state and the people. He gets a job as a groundskeeper at the local university so he can take a graduate level writing class for free. The class turns out to be a joke, but he meets a young female visiting writer at an MFA party and falls in love. She is Muslim from New Jersey and he is Baptist raised from Kentucky. We learn that people have a lot more to them then the labels we use to describe them.
often times morbidly depressing and other times hopeful, an interesting insight into how your experiences shape your perceptions. plus some memorable quotes and new information on a state i previously knew nothing about.
This was readable but not enjoyable, a novel about the mundane and tedious. Many novels talk about the mundane as they develop a world and grow the characters, but Cole's lingering over minutiae does not contribute to any of this kind of world and character building. The writing is stilted and flat, the characters poorly developed, and the plot moseys about aimlessly.
Vague spoiler: the primary characters, Owen and Alma, come with a bundle of red flags each. They are poor communicators who repeatedly judge one another and fail to have mature exchanges. Cole gives us deeply flawed primary characters who don't have any particularly endearing or redeeming qualities. Ironically, my greatest sympathy lies for the parents and Pop in this novel (I don't think that was Cole's intent).
In the simplest terms, this book read like a series of "f*ck around and find out" situations where
the characters keep making poor, illogical, sometimes unrealistic decisions. I don't know how Cole wanted us to feel about the characters or plot progression, but I vacillated between annoyed and apathetic, and finally landed on disappointed at the end of the read.
Groundskeeping does not deliver on the promises it makes in its description. It's a weak 2.5 for me.
Vague spoiler: the primary characters, Owen and Alma, come with a bundle of red flags each. They are poor communicators who repeatedly judge one another and fail to have mature exchanges. Cole gives us deeply flawed primary characters who don't have any particularly endearing or redeeming qualities. Ironically, my greatest sympathy lies for the parents and Pop in this novel (I don't think that was Cole's intent).
In the simplest terms, this book read like a series of "f*ck around and find out" situations where
the characters keep making poor, illogical, sometimes unrealistic decisions. I don't know how Cole wanted us to feel about the characters or plot progression, but I vacillated between annoyed and apathetic, and finally landed on disappointed at the end of the read.
Groundskeeping does not deliver on the promises it makes in its description. It's a weak 2.5 for me.
Really enjoyed this cosy, low stakes and strangely compelling coming of age story. The conversational writing style is peppered with lyrical passages that reflect the protagonist’s writerly ambitions, and even though Owen withholds information about himself from the reader, largely focusing his attention on those around him, this helps inform his character. The main thrust of the loose narrative, his romance with Alma, raises interesting questions around authorship and appropriation, and subverts tropes by engaging thoughtfully with their different backgrounds and the limitations of their respective worldviews. A story about storytelling, the meta-textual allusions to the nature of the narrative can occasionally feel forced and risk feeling overwritten, but overall I found this to be a really promising debut novel.
Groundskeeping is Lee Cole's debut novel. The story focuses on 28 year old Owen who has returned home to Kentucky. He moves into his Pop’s basement and takes a grounds keeping job at a local college. Soon after he meets Alma who is at the college as a writer in residence. They bond over their shared passion for writing but are very different people with very different upbringings.
Groundskeeping is a "coming of age" love story but it is also a story about families and how they shape us and how the way we have been brought up ultimately affects the way we approach our relationships. I loved how it shone a light on relationships particularly those in their early stages. The exchange of information between two people and how little comments can hurt another person or make them think differently about their partner – so realistic and relatable.
This book was quiet and contemplative but was also intensely observant. Owen is an aspiring writer and because of this he notices so much of the ordinary around him. I really liked that it was told from the male POV as it gave a completely different vibe to the millennial girl POV, while still giving shades of Rooney (urgh sorry about that overdone comparison). To make up for that comment I’ll also add that at times I felt like I was reading a male version of Ann Patchett – no wonder she blurbed it!
This was a very American feeling book and had so many cultural references I didn't get and had to look up! But this made it feel quite authentic.
Just a couple of gripes – it was yet another book with no speech quotes. What gives? Is everyone abandoning punctuation? It feels like it is no longer a novelty anymore and I feel conflicted about this! Also I didn’t appreciate how heavy it was on the smoking references but small things really.
This was a very well written book which doesn’t have an fast moving plotline. It was more a character study that nonetheless travels at a decent pace. I’m not sure I understand exactly how the ending landed but I enjoyed my experience of it!
Thanks so much to @allenandunwin for my #gifted copy.
Groundskeeping is a "coming of age" love story but it is also a story about families and how they shape us and how the way we have been brought up ultimately affects the way we approach our relationships. I loved how it shone a light on relationships particularly those in their early stages. The exchange of information between two people and how little comments can hurt another person or make them think differently about their partner – so realistic and relatable.
This book was quiet and contemplative but was also intensely observant. Owen is an aspiring writer and because of this he notices so much of the ordinary around him. I really liked that it was told from the male POV as it gave a completely different vibe to the millennial girl POV, while still giving shades of Rooney (urgh sorry about that overdone comparison). To make up for that comment I’ll also add that at times I felt like I was reading a male version of Ann Patchett – no wonder she blurbed it!
This was a very American feeling book and had so many cultural references I didn't get and had to look up! But this made it feel quite authentic.
Just a couple of gripes – it was yet another book with no speech quotes. What gives? Is everyone abandoning punctuation? It feels like it is no longer a novelty anymore and I feel conflicted about this! Also I didn’t appreciate how heavy it was on the smoking references but small things really.
This was a very well written book which doesn’t have an fast moving plotline. It was more a character study that nonetheless travels at a decent pace. I’m not sure I understand exactly how the ending landed but I enjoyed my experience of it!
Thanks so much to @allenandunwin for my #gifted copy.
Book of the Month 2301 | Modern Fiction
Vi pratade i läsecirkeln om Trump och USA, känslan av extrem polarisering och hur det var att läsa om platser där människor möts och behöver interagera med varandra oavsett sina åsikter, som på arbetsplatsen. De bitar som handlade om detta var så intressanta att läsa.
Vi pratade också om hur boken handlar om två skribenter som i någon mån ser den andra som ett sätt att samla erfarenheter att kunna skriva om senare, i vissa fall kanske det mer än att de har en viktig relation till varandra. Det bråk som uppstår mellan dem mot slutet av boken var också intressant och vi pratade en del om vad man ”får” skriva om och inte.
Reading Group: 3,8
Vi pratade i läsecirkeln om Trump och USA, känslan av extrem polarisering och hur det var att läsa om platser där människor möts och behöver interagera med varandra oavsett sina åsikter, som på arbetsplatsen. De bitar som handlade om detta var så intressanta att läsa.
Vi pratade också om hur boken handlar om två skribenter som i någon mån ser den andra som ett sätt att samla erfarenheter att kunna skriva om senare, i vissa fall kanske det mer än att de har en viktig relation till varandra. Det bråk som uppstår mellan dem mot slutet av boken var också intressant och vi pratade en del om vad man ”får” skriva om och inte.
Reading Group: 3,8
Audiobook. This book was on some celebrities book club in recent months. Neither of the characters were compelling, Alma was definitely a snob and Owen stole from his grandfather… I also did not understand their attraction to each other, they did not fit as a couple. Interesting attempt at addressing the post 2016 world, but it fell flat.
Owen is our protagonist. He currently lives with his grandfather having a strained relationship with both parents. He works as a groundskeeper at Ashby College and takes writing classes which he gets for free on the side. Alma is the woman the catches his attention the moment he meets her. She has a fellowship at Ashby. She is well off and has lived a better life than Owen in almost every way.
Alma and Owen fall in love and begin navigating their relationship while battling the things that make them different. They come together in many ways, but fall apart when their differences are too much to overcome. Still, they fight for each other until it’s time for Owen to make a decision. He must decide between pursuing his dream or staying with the woman he loves. It’s a relatable decision to have to make.
I did not think I was going to like this book. It started off so slow. As it continued though I began warming up to it.
Lee Cole’s writing is very real and relatable and he captures the mundane moments in life as well as the heart breaking and beautiful moments as well.
Owen and Alma couldn’t have lived more different lives if they tried. This becomes especially apparent when they meet each other’s parents. Owen’s mom and stepdad are Evangelicals who try to hide their disdain for Alma being a cultural Muslim. Owen is fascinated by Alma and her family having fled war torn Bosnia before coming to the US and thriving financially.
Owen and Alma’s relationship begins to show the most strains after these meetings and Owen begins questioning what’s important with his life. These characters aren’t always likable, but you understand their motives.
This is my honest review. Thank you to Alfred Knopf for sending me an ARC.
Alma and Owen fall in love and begin navigating their relationship while battling the things that make them different. They come together in many ways, but fall apart when their differences are too much to overcome. Still, they fight for each other until it’s time for Owen to make a decision. He must decide between pursuing his dream or staying with the woman he loves. It’s a relatable decision to have to make.
I did not think I was going to like this book. It started off so slow. As it continued though I began warming up to it.
Lee Cole’s writing is very real and relatable and he captures the mundane moments in life as well as the heart breaking and beautiful moments as well.
Owen and Alma couldn’t have lived more different lives if they tried. This becomes especially apparent when they meet each other’s parents. Owen’s mom and stepdad are Evangelicals who try to hide their disdain for Alma being a cultural Muslim. Owen is fascinated by Alma and her family having fled war torn Bosnia before coming to the US and thriving financially.
Owen and Alma’s relationship begins to show the most strains after these meetings and Owen begins questioning what’s important with his life. These characters aren’t always likable, but you understand their motives.
This is my honest review. Thank you to Alfred Knopf for sending me an ARC.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Owen Callahan, a 28-year-old aspiring writer, returns home to Kentucky when his luck runs out in Colorado. Living with his grandfather, he takes a job as a groundskeeper at a nearby college so he can enroll in a writing class for free. He becomes involved with a visiting writer from DC, Alma, the daughter of Bosnian Muslim refugees. A thoughtful and moving look at the complex mix of emotions home and family can evoke, especially if people you love voted for Trump.
What a beautiful book. The next great campus novel. So well written and exploring an area of America I really don't know much about. Owen - a groundskeeper, Kentucky native trying to break out from his life and become a writer. Alma - a writer in residence, immigrant and coastal elite trying to understand each other and their love story.
I will be recommending this book to everyone. I just loved it. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC!
I will be recommending this book to everyone. I just loved it. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC!